Friday 5th March 2004

Check your Car

Oi, slacker - get out there now and check your oil

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A study carried out by risk management and driver training specialists, Peak Performance, has revealed that up to a quarter of company drivers don’t bother checking their vehicles between services or are unaware that they need to.

The study, of 1,000 company owned vehicles carried out over eight months from May to the end of December last year, also found that one in 10 vehicles had such low oil levels that there was a very good chance of their engines seizing up during the driver training exercise.

Ten per cent of cars showed either virtually empty, low or only half full engine oil levels, with a small number of engines being over-filled with oil, which can also lead to engine problems.

A further 107 vehicles had tyre problems, with either illegal tread depth or tyre rim damage, predominantly the nearside front tyre where hitting the kerb had caused damage. And 25% of all tyres checked were either under or over inflated.

"This detailed study shows that there is considerable cause for alarm about the safety and condition of a significant proportion of company owned vehicles on our roads ," said James Sutherland, managing director of Chesterfield-based Peak Performance.

[misternomer]

Doesn't suprise me. Whenever I get one of my cars back from the tyre fitters I normally find it's out by 3-5 PSI.

I mean for F&&&cks sake! If fitting tyres is all you do every day you'd imagine you could be trusted at least to get that right.

[telecat]

Couple of year ago I had the front tyres on My 323 ZXI re-balanced. Kwik fit numpties didn't notice the rotation arrows and refitted them the wrong way round. As I had picked the car up as they were closing I had to swop them myself as I was going on hols next day.

[mechsympathy]

telecat said:

Couple of year ago I had the front tyres on My 323 ZXI re-balanced. Kwik fit numpties didn't notice the rotation arrows and refitted them the wrong way round. As I had picked the car up as they were closing I had to swop them myself as I was going on hols next day.

I had a similar experience in a tyre place. I was just walking in to get my tyres done, and there was a smart looking (proper) mini outside. For some reason it looked wrong - it took me a couple of seconds to work out why: the tyres were on the wrong way round. Needless to say they were very surly when I pointed it out to them.:rolleyesagain:

[deeen]

well at least they did up your wheel bolts...

[The DJ 27]

My flatmate is a perfect example of this, and it's not a fleet motor either. Doesn't know how to check his tyre pressures, never checks his oil and has no idea how to treat a car at all. I keep advising him that if he keeps bouncing it off the limiter from cold, it WILL damage the engine, but he knows best